tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-81436357967137466842015-03-03T07:51:32.635-08:00PAEPARDFrançois Stepmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09437969068162640227noreply@blogger.comBlogger1620125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8143635796713746684.post-72989351873107548462015-03-03T07:46:00.003-08:002015-03-03T07:51:32.651-08:00Integrated Systems Research for Sustainable Intensification in Smallholder Agriculture<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><a href="http://www.bioversityinternational.org/typo3temp/_processed_/csm_Integrated_Systems_03_0ac8bcf776.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.bioversityinternational.org/typo3temp/_processed_/csm_Integrated_Systems_03_0ac8bcf776.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a><br /><b>3-6 March 2015.</b>&nbsp;Ibadan Nigeria.&nbsp;IITA headquarters.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.bioversityinternational.org/news/detail/integrated-systems-research-for-sustainable-intensification-in-smallholder-agriculture/?utm_source=feedburner&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=Feed%3A+BioversityInternationalNews+%28Bioversity+International+News%29">This 4-day conference</a> organized by CGIAR Research Program on Humidtropics opens in Nigeria today 03/03/2015.<br /><br />Humidtropics, in collaboration with Dryland Systems and Aquatic Agricultural Systems (AAS), is organizing an international conference on integrated systems research. Entitled&nbsp;<a href="http://humidtropics.cgiar.org/events/humidtropics-2014-science-conference/">Integrated Systems Research for Sustainable Intensification in Smallholder Agriculture</a>, the conference will deal with major components within systems research in agriculture. The purpose of the conference is to learn from research undertakings on integrated systems, with an emphasis on results: data, methods and lessons learned.<br /><br /><b>Conference outcomes:</b><br /><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Demonstrate and share experiences and evidence to the effect that Systems Approaches in agriculture research are effective and contribute to livelihoods and natural resource management;</li><li>Share methods, tools and research approaches used in Systems Research;</li><li>Explore opportunities for new partnerships in Systems Research for development;</li><li>Identify opportunities for cross-system learning, and methods to do this effectively;</li><li>Special peer-reviewed publication.</li></ul><b>Core questions to be addressed include:</b><br /><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>How to move systems concepts into practice?</li><li>How do we move to scale and impact with systems research and development?</li><li>What is the value added of that approach? Why is Systems Research needed to achieve this?</li></ul>See&nbsp;<a href="http://humidtropics.cgiar.org/international-conference-integrated-systems/">the full programme here</a><br /><br />The first day included <a href="http://humidtropics.cgiar.org/international-conference-integrated-systems/">a webcast</a> with the following speakers (live stream):<br /><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Dr. Nteranya Sanginga, Director General, International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA)&nbsp;</li><li>Dr. Kwesi Atta-Krah, Director, CGIAR Research Program on Integrated Systems for the Humid Tropics (Humidtropics)&nbsp;</li><li>Dr. Yemi Akinbamijo, Executive Director, Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA)&nbsp;</li><li>Dr. Frank Rijsberman, Chief Executive Officer, CGIAR Consortium&nbsp;</li><li>Ann Tutwiler, Director General, Bioversity International&nbsp;</li><li>Prof. David W. Norman, Professor Emeritus, Kansas State University: Historical Trajectory of Farming Systems Research: Past, Present and Future&nbsp;</li><li>Dr. Bernard Hubert, President, Agropolis International: Systems Thinking toward Institutional Innovation and Change&nbsp;</li><li>Cynthia McDougall, Senior Scientist, Gender &amp; Equity Theme Leader, WorldFish and Aquatic Agricultural Systems (AAS): Gender in Integrated Systems Research&nbsp;</li><li>Dr. Marie de Lattre-Gasquet, Senior Foresight Scientist, CGIAR Consortium: Facilitating Changes in Complex Humid Systems: Role of Foresight in Agricultural Research for Development</li></ul></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a class="a2a_dd" href="http://www.addtoany.com/share_save"><img alt="Share" border="0" height="16" src="http://static.addtoany.com/buttons/share_save_171_16.png" width="171" /></a> <script src="http://static.addtoany.com/menu/page.js" type="text/javascript">
</script></div>François Stepmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09437969068162640227noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8143635796713746684.post-62928099047735926242015-03-03T02:17:00.000-08:002015-03-03T02:24:08.843-08:00Can Public-Private Partnerships Actually Benefit the Poor?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5Khp9DMBtng/VPWJBP_dQcI/AAAAAAAAEBY/xps-oramVew/s1600/GVC.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5Khp9DMBtng/VPWJBP_dQcI/AAAAAAAAEBY/xps-oramVew/s1600/GVC.jpg" height="320" width="259" /></a></div><a href="https://www.microlinks.org/sites/default/files/resource/files/Public-Private_Partnerships_in_Global_Value_Chains_508_compliant.pdf?utm_source=USAID+Microlinks&amp;utm_campaign=be16ba2f0a-Microlinks_seminar_18_post_event_email2_6_2015&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_term=0_c250953c9e-be16ba2f0a-56866345">Can Public-Private Partnerships Actually Benefit the Poor?<b></b></a><br /><div>Ajmal Abdulsamad, Shawn Stokes and Gary Gereffi of Duke University’s Center on Globalization, Governance and Competitiveness for ACDI/VOCA<br />Funding from USAID/E3’s Leveraging Economic Opportunity (LEO) project.<br />February 2015. <b>41 pages</b><br /><br /></div><div>While private sector development is not new to the development community, the focus on development PPPs has important implications for development policy and practice. Little is known about the impact these partnerships have on smallholders in developing countries. Most studies on the impact of PPPs rely on information about the delivery of outputs, rather than an understanding of the industry context in which the PPPs take place. None of the available studies has systematically examined development PPPs against the interconnected context of local, regional and global industries, or market systems.<br /><div><br /></div><div>Thus <a href="https://www.microlinks.org/sites/default/files/resource/files/Public-Private_Partnerships_in_Global_Value_Chains_508_compliant.pdf?utm_source=USAID+Microlinks&amp;utm_campaign=be16ba2f0a-Microlinks_seminar_18_post_event_email2_6_2015&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_term=0_c250953c9e-be16ba2f0a-56866345">this report</a> does not evaluate partnerships according to the traditional format and criteria (efficiency, effectiveness, impact, relevance and sustainability). Rather, drawing on the available Global value chains (GVC) literature, as well as information and reports related to three cases in the export-oriented agricultural sectors&nbsp;(<b>Cocoa in India, Coffee in Rwanda and Horticulture in Kenya out of <span style="color: red;">135 PPP cases initially reviewed</span></b>), this research examines the main concerns over the potential of PPPs to truly bring about inclusive development:&nbsp;</div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>The alignment of business and pro-poor development interests;&nbsp;</li><li>The actors and institutions that determine how the system works; and&nbsp;</li><li>The outcomes that can be achieved.</li></ul></div><a href="https://www.microlinks.org/sites/default/files/resource/files/Public-Private_Partnerships_in_Global_Value_Chains_508_compliant.pdf?utm_source=USAID+Microlinks&amp;utm_campaign=be16ba2f0a-Microlinks_seminar_18_post_event_email2_6_2015&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_term=0_c250953c9e-be16ba2f0a-56866345">The report</a>&nbsp;concludes at the following:<br /><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>There are a number of roadblocks in global value chain PPPs that prevent the poor from benefitting, even when the project itself leads to growth and increased outputs.</li><li>While the three cases analysed are not representative of the diverse range of partnership programs, there are some lessons that may provide insight for new and ongoing partnerships.&nbsp;</li><li>Industry gains through PPPs — be they increased exports, investment or production — do not automatically translate to smallholder, producer or household level economic benefits.</li><li>If the partnership isn’t designed properly, it may end up merely reinforcing existing power dynamics in the value chain, which could result in some actors profiting more than others.</li><li>Certification costs often fall to the producer, which can increase a smallholder’s production costs. Certifications are often touted as a way for smallholders to gain access to greater markets or earn premiums on their product, but in reality, their costs can outweigh potential benefits.&nbsp;</li><li>PPPs that subsidize certification costs can increase farmer income, but only when farmers are paid price premiums, which are often not guaranteed. As a result, such programs are not the most sustainable</li></ul><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Uploaded on 19 Feb 2015</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/M4PmA6ZXyn8" width="560"></iframe><br /></div><br />Contextual changes characterized by the globalization of agricultural value chains not only influence patterns of production, competition, and trade; they also offer potential for public-private partnerships (PPPs) to achieve development objectives. These PPPs often result in economic growth. However, they have not always brought about significant and sustained benefits for the poor.<br /><br />Drawing on the concepts of global value chains, representatives from Duke University’s Center on Globalization, Governance and Competitiveness (CGGC) examined evidence contributing to three main debates surrounding the potential of PPPs to truly bring about inclusive development:<br /><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>The alignment of business and pro-poor development interests;&nbsp;</li><li>The actors and institutions that determine how the system works; and,&nbsp;</li><li>The outcomes that can be achieved.</li></ol><a href="https://www.microlinks.org/library/can-public-private-partnerships-actually-benefit-poor-event-resources">This panel presented research findings</a> on USAID-supported partnerships and upgrading trajectories experienced in the cocoa sector in Indonesia, the coffee sector in Rwanda, and the horticulture sector in Kenya. This research examines what historical PPPs can teach us about how to use this approach to actually benefit the poor.<br /><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><a href="https://kdad.adobeconnect.com/p8rivg8i9t3/">Webinar Recording</a></li><li><a href="https://www.microlinks.org/blog/development-digest-key-takeaways-%E2%80%9Ccan-public-private-partnerships-actually-benefit-poor%E2%80%9D">Summary Blog Post</a></li><li><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.microlinks.org/sites/default/files/resource/audio/Microlinks_Public-Private_Partnerships_Benefit_Poor_Prsntn_012915.mp3">Presentation Audio</a> (Length: 1:19:03)</span></li><li><a href="https://www.microlinks.org/sites/default/files/resource/audio/Microlinks_Public-Private_Partnerships_Benefit_Poor_QA_012915.mp3">Q and A Audio</a></li><li><a href="https://www.microlinks.org/sites/all/modules/pubdlcnt/pubdlcnt.php?file=/sites/default/files/resource/files/Microlinks_Can_PPPs_Actually_Benefit_the_Poor_01.29.2015.pdf&amp;nid=16195">Presentation Slides</a></li><li><a href="https://www.microlinks.org/sites/all/modules/pubdlcnt/pubdlcnt.php?file=/sites/default/files/resource/files/Audio_Transcript_Microlinks_18_2.pdf&amp;nid=16195">Audio Transcript</a></li><li><a href="https://www.microlinks.org/sites/all/modules/pubdlcnt/pubdlcnt.php?file=/sites/default/files/resource/files/Chat_Transcript_Microlinks_18.pdf&amp;nid=16195">Chat Transcript</a></li><li><a href="https://www.microlinks.org/sites/all/modules/pubdlcnt/pubdlcnt.php?file=/sites/default/files/resource/files/Webinar_questions.pdf&amp;nid=16195">Webinar Questions</a></li><li><a href="https://www.microlinks.org/sites/all/modules/pubdlcnt/pubdlcnt.php?file=/sites/default/files/resource/files/Public-Private_Partnerships_in_Global_Value_Chains_508_compliant.pdf&amp;nid=16195">Report: Public-Private Partnerships in Global Value Chains: Can They Actually Benefit the Poor?</a></li><li><a href="https://www.microlinks.org/sites/default/files/resource/files/Case_Inventory_0.xlsx">Report Case Inventory</a></li></ul></div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a class="a2a_dd" href="http://www.addtoany.com/share_save"><img alt="Share" border="0" height="16" src="http://static.addtoany.com/buttons/share_save_171_16.png" width="171" /></a> <script src="http://static.addtoany.com/menu/page.js" type="text/javascript">
</script></div>François Stepmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09437969068162640227noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8143635796713746684.post-69675770816050645802015-03-03T00:37:00.002-08:002015-03-03T00:42:57.416-08:00Pastoralismand the Green Economy – a natural nexus? <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://landportal.info/sites/default/files/report%20pastoralism%20green%20economy.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://landportal.info/sites/default/files/report%20pastoralism%20green%20economy.png" height="320" width="228" /></a></div><div><a href="http://cmsdata.iucn.org/downloads/wisp_green_economy_book.pdf">Pastoralismand the Green Economy – a natural nexus?</a>&nbsp;</div><div>McGahey, D., Davies, J., Hagelberg, N., and Ouedraogo, R., 2014. Nairobi: IUCN and UNEP. <b>72 pages.</b></div><div><br /></div>As economies and populations grow, so does the demand for animal products,` including milk, meat and fibre. Pastoralism can play a significant role in fulfilling this demand whilst continuing to protect rangeland biodiversity and ecosystem services.<br /><div><br /></div>This study focuses on pastoralism’s current and future potential for securing sustainable management and green economy outcomes from the world’s rangelands. The book explores<br /><br /><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>the contribution of pastoralism to the maintenance of natural capital;&nbsp;</li><li>pastoralism’s resource efficiency and sustainable production in highly variable dryland environments; and&nbsp;</li><li>the conditions that enable pastoralism to deliver on its green economy potential.</li></ol><br />It synthesises existing evidence and uses practical examples from mobile pastoralism in Europe, Latin America, North America, Central, Western and Southern Asia, Australia and <b>throughout Africa</b> to both demonstrate the system’s inherent characteristics for adaptive sustainability and some of the key opportunities and challenges for promoting development in rangelands. Finally, the study identifies the key enabling conditions required for pastoralism to deliver on its potential role in a Green Economy.<br /><div><br /></div><div>The “Green Economy” is a vision of the future wherein material wealth is not generated at the cost of increasing environmental risk, ecological scarcity or social disparity. Considerations over “green” development for the global livestock sector are at an all-time high and whilst countries grapple with what this entails, many of them possess large areas of rangelands that are managed through pastoralism and which already make a major contribution to environmental sustainability and the economy. <br /><div><br /></div><div>This report is financed by UNEP and is part of the efforts of UNEP, IUCN and the World Initiative for Sustainable Pastoralism (WISP), to provide the social, economic and environmental arguments for increased recognition of sustainable pastoralism as a viable land management option for the world’s rangelands.</div></div><div><br /></div><div><b><span style="color: red;">Related:</span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3sc.unccd.int/imagesunccd/logo-3sc-conf-small.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3sc.unccd.int/imagesunccd/logo-3sc-conf-small.png" /></a></div><div><b>9-12 March 2015. </b>Cancun Mexico.<b>&nbsp;</b>The <a href="http://www.iucn.org/about/union/secretariat/offices/rowa/?18896/IUCN-Launches-the-Publication-Pastoralism-and-the-Green-Economy-during-the-3rd-UNCCD-Scientific-Conference-in-Cancun-Mexico-9th-to-12-March-2015">global Drylands Initiative</a> in Collaboration with UNEP will be launching a publication they produced together at the<a href="http://3sc.unccd.int/"> 3rd UNCCD scientific conference in Mexico</a>.</div><div><br /></div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a class="a2a_dd" href="http://www.addtoany.com/share_save"><img alt="Share" border="0" height="16" src="http://static.addtoany.com/buttons/share_save_171_16.png" width="171" /></a> <script src="http://static.addtoany.com/menu/page.js" type="text/javascript">
</script></div>François Stepmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09437969068162640227noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8143635796713746684.post-56793973782314184332015-03-02T07:49:00.002-08:002015-03-02T07:49:41.918-08:00Pan-Africa Project to Focus on Potential of Fish Trade<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.photos.apo-opa.com/plog-content/thumbs/apo/photos/large/1797-150302wf.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://www.photos.apo-opa.com/plog-content/thumbs/apo/photos/large/1797-150302wf.jpg" height="211" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">Mr. Felix Kosgey, Cabinet Secretary for Agriculture,&nbsp;</span></div><span style="color: blue;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">Livestock and Fisheries, Kenya, officially addresses&nbsp;</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">participants at the launch of the&nbsp;</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">FishTrade for a Better Future programme</span></div></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div><b>2 March 2015.</b>&nbsp;Nairobi, Kenya. A new pan-African project <a href="https://appablog.wordpress.com/2015/03/02/pan-africa-project-to-focus-on-potential-of-fish-trade-for-increased-nutrition-and-income/">has been launched</a> to strengthen the continent’s great&nbsp;potential for increased trade in fish. Africa, a continent that is endowed with plentiful fish resources in oceans, rivers, lakes, floodplains and fish farms accounts for just 4.9% of global fish trade.&nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><div>More efficient trade could significantly improve income and nutrition for millions of Africans, particularly those 12.3 million that are directly employed in the fisheries and aquaculture sectors.</div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 16px;"><a href="http://www.worldfishcenter.org/content/fish-trade-better-future-program-brochure">'FishTrade for a Better Future</a>'</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 16px;">, a European Commission </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 16px;">funded project implemented by WorldFish</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 16px;">, the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 16px;">and the African Union Inter-African Bureau for Animal Resources (AU-IBAR)</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 16px;">&nbsp;will strengthen value chains and, with a focus on sustainability, give better access to intra-regional markets and subsequently improve food and nutritional security and income in sub-Saharan Africa.</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></span></div>FishTrade will work in four ‘corridors’ to generate information on the structure, products and value of intra-regional fish trade and its contribution to food security in sub-Saharan Africa. Recommendations will be prepared on policies, fish certification guidelines and quality and safety standards, as well as regulations. A second stage will focus on strengthening the trade capacities of private sector associations, in particular of women fish processors, women traders and all aquaculture producers, in order for them to make better use of expanding trade opportunities through competitive small- and medium-scale enterprises.</div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a class="a2a_dd" href="http://www.addtoany.com/share_save"><img alt="Share" border="0" height="16" src="http://static.addtoany.com/buttons/share_save_171_16.png" width="171" /></a> <script src="http://static.addtoany.com/menu/page.js" type="text/javascript">
</script></div>François Stepmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09437969068162640227noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8143635796713746684.post-68604591713617502172015-03-02T06:44:00.002-08:002015-03-02T07:22:30.837-08:00Fund for Agricultural Financing in Nigeria (FAFIN)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://olupitanphotography.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/dsc_33251.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://olupitanphotography.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/dsc_33251.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><b>24 February, 2014. </b>Abuja, NIGERIA. The Federal Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development of Nigeria, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, <a href="http://nigerianagriculturenews.ng/nigerias-private-sector-joins-federal-government-to-drive-agriculture-transformation/">met with the new Nigeria Agribusiness Group Executive Leadership</a>, a select group of CEOs from Nigeria’s top agribusiness and financing institutions to lead the engagement of the broader agribusiness community through the Nigeria Agribusiness Group (NABG) in Nigeria’s Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA).<br /><div><br /></div><div>In partnership with FMARD, the NABG will catalyse sustainable growth of the country’s agricultural sector by continuing to treat agriculture as a business, not as government funded development project. The&nbsp;<span style="background-color: white; font-family: OpenSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Fund for Agricultural Financing (FAFIN) and the Nigerian Incentive Based-Risk Sharing for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL) are to contribute to cheap financing and access to financing issues</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: OpenSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: OpenSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b><span style="color: red;">Related</span></b>:&nbsp;</span></div><div><div><a href="http://www.fafinnigeria.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/logo.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.fafinnigeria.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/logo.png" /></a><b style="font-weight: bold;">16 December 2014.&nbsp;</b>Officially Launch Agriculture of the Nigerian Funding and Youth Empowerment Programme and the <a href="http://www.fafinnigeria.com/fafin-at-a-glance/">Fund for Agricultural Finance in Nigeria (FAFIN)</a> is an innovative agriculture-focused investment fund that provides tailored capital and technical assistance solutions to commercially-viable small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and Intermediaries across the agricultural sector in Nigeria.</div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://www.fafinnigeria.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/GERMANY.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.fafinnigeria.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/GERMANY.png" /></a><li>One of the funders&nbsp;is&nbsp;<a href="http://www.kfw.de/">KfW</a>.&nbsp;KfW Development Bank carries out Germany’s Financial Cooperation with developing and emerging countries on behalf of the German Federal Government.</li><li>FAFIN has an initial 10 year life extendable for three additional 1 year periods.</li><li>FAFIN’s target fund size is US $100 million currently with $34 million committed capital from its first close.</li><li>Average investment size is US$ 3-5 million.</li><li>Small and medium sized enterprises across the agricultural value chain; and intermediaries for on-lending to agricultural SMEs and small holder farmers.</li><li>FAFIN has an independently funded technical assistance facility that supports investee companies and mitigates investment risks. The target size of the facility is 10% of the fund and it is currently funded with US$ 2 million.</li><li>FAFIN has a preference for investment opportunities that enable import substitution, increase food security, or bridge gaps and fix inefficiencies along supply chains.</li></ul><b> 27 Nagropreneurs</b> that received the initial grant from the presidency through the Federal Ministry of Agriculture (FMARD) and Rural Development under the Youth Employment in Agriculture Programme (YEAP).<br /><br /><a href="http://leadership.ng/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Nkiru-Nnaemego-300x300.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; display: inline !important; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://leadership.ng/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Nkiru-Nnaemego-300x300.jpg" height="200" width="200" /></a>One among them is <span style="color: blue;"><b>Barrister Nkiru Nnaemego</b>. </span>She is the chief executive officer of Fresh and Young Brains Development Initiative.&nbsp;</div><div>This initiative will invest in <a href="http://leadership.ng/business/414167/establishing-10000-youth-led-farms-is-our-goal-nnaemego">the Youth Farm (YFarm) Incubation (One Stop) Centre for African Youth in Agribusiness</a>.<br /><br /><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>This centre will provide online and onsite certificate courses in agribusiness, host a culinary school, agro-processing/packaging plant and an integrated farm for livestock, aqua-culture and crop production.&nbsp;</li><li>The project was launched as a national campaign under the “YFarm: My Farm, My Swag Campaign,” during the 1st National Stakeholders Meeting on the YFarm Project by the FMARD, Oxfam, UNWomen, and other stakeholders in 2014. The project enjoys endorsement and support from the African Union Commission, ministries of agriculture and rural development,youth development, UNDP, UNWomen, UN Volunteers, among several others.</li></ul><br /><span style="color: blue;"><b>Samuel Terhungwa Ayede</b></span>, a young graduate of Geography from Benue State is ex-banker that dumped the corporate boardroom for the farm. He is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Terjimi Farms, located at Masaka, Nasarawa State. The farm, which sits on a seven hectares land, where high yielding, high quality fresh vegetables are produced.&nbsp;For Terhungwa, there is no reason for regrets, as he is a major supplier to many departmental stores like Shoprite, hotels, restaurants and individuals.<br /><br /><b><span style="color: blue;">Mariam Sanda</span></b>, 27, a native of Maiduguri in the insurgency ravaged Borno State, is the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Treasure Land Global farms, located in Kuje, Abuja, which employs not <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>less than nine people.<br /><br /><b><span style="color: blue;">Adeniyi Adenuga</span></b>, a graduate of Animal Production and Health, and Masters degree holder in Agricultural <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flameville.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/adeniyi-adenuga.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.flameville.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/adeniyi-adenuga.jpg" height="150" width="200" /></a></div>Biochmeistry, owns a 30-tonne <a href="http://www.flameville.com/2013/09/the-young-agropreneur-of-tepebo-catfish-cottage-adeniyi-adenuga/">Catfish farm in Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State</a>. The farm has, in its employ, 10 permanent staff and five others on temporary placement.&nbsp;Adenuga is angling to bring the farm to a 900-1000-tonne expert-based fish farm within the next five years.<br /><br /><b><span style="color: blue;">Muniru Umaru</span></b>, who was once unemployed, now has 70-tonnes of fish farm that employs many people.</div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/64a-T5rLgYk" width="560"></iframe> <br /><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/pq_Wk14zcDA" width="560"></iframe></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a class="a2a_dd" href="http://www.addtoany.com/share_save"><img alt="Share" border="0" height="16" src="http://static.addtoany.com/buttons/share_save_171_16.png" width="171" /></a> <script src="http://static.addtoany.com/menu/page.js" type="text/javascript">
</script></div>François Stepmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09437969068162640227noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8143635796713746684.post-14419038634972048012015-03-02T02:00:00.001-08:002015-03-02T02:00:54.885-08:00Enhancing the resilience of African landscapes, lives, and livelihoods<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.connect4climate.org/images/uploads/2ndSAWAP-Banner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.connect4climate.org/images/uploads/2ndSAWAP-Banner.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a></div><b>18-19&nbsp;February 2015.</b> Addis Abeba. The twelve country project teams that form the World Bank/Global Environment Facility <a href="http://sawap.net/a-propos/">Sahel and West Africa Program</a> (SAWAP) in support of the Great Green Wall met at the <a href="http://www.au.int/">Africa Union</a> to share knowledge and best practices to enhance the resilience of African landscapes, lives, and livelihoods – especially the poorest who deeply depend on natural resources for environmental and food security.<br /><br />SAWAP, a $1.1 billion flexible investment umbrella with 12 country-led investment operations, is the<a href="http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2013/10/15/africa-green-wall-initiative-innovation-hub-knowledge-institutional-capacity">World Bank</a> and <a href="http://www.thegef.org/gef/greenline/september-2011/terrafrica-partnership-sustainable-land-and-water-management-sub-saharan-co">GEF</a>’s contribution to the African initiative to help transform the region into a stable, sustainable, resilient region. The program was developed in 2011 under the <a href="http://www.terrafrica.org/">TerrAfrica</a> partnership, and is reinforced by a regional hub project <a href="http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2013/10/15/africa-green-wall-initiative-innovation-hub-knowledge-institutional-capacity">Building Resilience through Innovation, Communication and Knowledge Services</a> (BRICKS). With the support of <a href="http://www.connect4climate.org/">Connect4Climate</a> BRICKS facilitates cooperation among the country projects and Great Green Wall partners on operational problems and solutions facing country project teams.<br /><div><br /></div>The World Bank partnered with 12 countries and the Global Environment Facility (GEF). These countries include <b>Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad, Ethiopia, Ghana, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sudan and Togo.</b><br /><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/saqZL-3JaBI" width="560"></iframe></div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a class="a2a_dd" href="http://www.addtoany.com/share_save"><img alt="Share" border="0" height="16" src="http://static.addtoany.com/buttons/share_save_171_16.png" width="171" /></a> <script src="http://static.addtoany.com/menu/page.js" type="text/javascript">
</script></div>François Stepmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09437969068162640227noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8143635796713746684.post-73802626374550379622015-02-27T09:08:00.001-08:002015-02-27T09:08:11.512-08:00International Conference on agricultural innovation systems in West and Central Africa<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.coraf.org/csiroV2013/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/cropped-banner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.coraf.org/csiroV2013/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/cropped-banner.jpg" height="184" width="640" /></a></div><b><br /></b><b>25-27 February 2015</b>.&nbsp;Saly Senegal, Keur Halim, Mbour, Senegal. This conference provided an opportunity to bring the institutions involved in the implementation of a number of projects and other stakeholders together around agricultural innovation systems in West and Central Africa. the purpose was to assess the successes and weaknesses of the IAR4D approach and to explore together the perspectives and solutions for improvements.<br /><br /><div>One of the expected results is that the major findings facilitate the implementation of the second Operational Plan (2014-2018) of CORAF/WECARD in West and Central Africa. </div><div><br /></div><div><b><span style="color: red;">Background:</span></b></div>In the late 1990s FARA proposed the Integrated Agricultural Research for Development (IAR4D) approach. The distinctive aspect of this approach is the integration of the value chain and the grouping the representatives of its key stakeholders within a platform. So the innovation is the result of the stakeholders’ activities and interactions within an Innovation Platform. In this new paradigm the researcher no longer occupies the central place.<br /><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>In the sub-region IAR4D was demonstrated for the first time by the Kano – Katsina- Maradi<a href="http://faraafrica.org/programs/strategic-priorities/visioning-africas-agricultural-transformation/ssacp-sub-saharan-africa-challenge-programme/"> (Sub-Saharan Africa Challenge Program)</a>&nbsp;and DONATA projects. CORAF/WECARD adopted it as the basis of its strategic and operational plans. Thus since 2011, as part of a partnership with CSIRO and with the financial support of the Australian Government under the African food Security initiative –AFSI, CORAF/WECARD coordinates and facilitates the implementation of six (06) projects on sustainable intensification of integrated crop-livestock production systems, strengthening seed system and animal health in West and Central Africa. These projects cover 10 countries in the sub-region and have been implemented in conformity with IAR4D principles. Therefore, these projects- are one of the first wide experiences of the application of IAR4D paradigm in the sub-region.&nbsp;</li><li>In the same period, another innovation system similar but not identical to IAR4D was promoted in the <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.cos-sis.org/images/logo.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.cos-sis.org/images/logo.gif" /></a></div>sub-region by the <a href="http://www.cos-sis.org/">Convergence of Science Initiative (Cos- SIS)</a>. The Convergences of Science Strengthening Innovation Systems Programme (COS-SIS) was a 6 year initiative (<b>2008 -2013</b>) funded by DGIS. It is an action research programme involving 9 PhD students and a collaboration between Wageningen UR, The Royal Tropical Institute and Universities in Ghana, Benin and Mali. It is the second phase of similar programme that ran from <b>2001 to 2005</b>.</li><li><a href="http://www.coraf.org/csiroV2013/">CSIRO- DFAT Africa Food Security Initiative</a> (<b>2010-2015</b>) – In 2010, CORAF/WECARD issued a competitive call for research projects to be supported by the Australian Government on sustainable intensification of integrated crop-livestock in West and Central Africa. The call was based on the assertion that integration of crops and livestock at the farm and landscape scales can be used for stimulating higher productivity that is also environmentally sustainable. It also recognised the importance of <b>innovation across the value chain</b> based on the principles of IAR4D.</li></ul><div><a href="http://www.coraf.org/documents/Conference_IR4D/Annoucement%20of%20the%20CORAF-AFSI%20conference%20Feb%202015.pdf">See prgramme</a></div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a class="a2a_dd" href="http://www.addtoany.com/share_save"><img alt="Share" border="0" height="16" src="http://static.addtoany.com/buttons/share_save_171_16.png" width="171" /></a> <script src="http://static.addtoany.com/menu/page.js" type="text/javascript">
</script></div>François Stepmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09437969068162640227noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8143635796713746684.post-57271711726417809602015-02-27T08:48:00.002-08:002015-02-27T08:48:15.614-08:00Second Training Workshop on Digital Soil Mapping for Eastern and Southern Africa<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.fao.org/fileadmin/user_upload/GSP/banner/GSP_banner_EN.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.fao.org/fileadmin/user_upload/GSP/banner/GSP_banner_EN.jpg" height="112" width="640" /></a></div><b><br /></b><b>23-27 February 2015</b>.&nbsp;Nairobi, Kenya. <a href="http://www.fao.org/globalsoilpartnership/news-events-archive/gsp-events/detail/en/c/274377/">The African Soil Partnership</a> was launched through workshops held in Accra, Ghana and Nairobi, Kenya in 2013. During these workshops, the representatives of the African countries presented their priorities in terms of actions to promote sustainable soil management. A common gap was identified in terms of improving the availability of updated soil data and information for supporting decision taking in relation to soil management. Capacity development in this area was identified as priority in the region. <br /><br />To this end, with the support of the European Commission the GSP has made efforts in order to respond to this demand by providing a Capacity Development Programme on digital soil mapping (implemented in Africa during October 2014 and January 2015).<br /><br /><a href="http://www.fao.org/globalsoilpartnership/news-events-archive/dsm/en/">Training material of the first Training Session (October 2014)</a><br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-9ZkK8TOAkA" width="560"></iframe></div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a class="a2a_dd" href="http://www.addtoany.com/share_save"><img alt="Share" border="0" height="16" src="http://static.addtoany.com/buttons/share_save_171_16.png" width="171" /></a> <script src="http://static.addtoany.com/menu/page.js" type="text/javascript">
</script></div>François Stepmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09437969068162640227noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8143635796713746684.post-685957088545349302015-02-27T08:17:00.000-08:002015-02-27T08:20:35.383-08:00Trans African Network Development<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://wacren.net/sites/default/files/wacren_logo_0.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://wacren.net/sites/default/files/wacren_logo_0.png" /></a></div><b>3 February 2015. </b>The Horizon2020 infrastructure support project&nbsp;<a href="https://www.renater.fr/participation-de-renater-aux-projets-e?lang=fr">TANDEM (TransAfrican Network Development)</a>&nbsp;has successfully completed the evaluation stage.<br /><div><br /></div>The TANDEM project aims to create favorable conditions for WACREN (<a href="http://wacren.net/">West and Central African Research and Education Network</a>) to be able to participate in the forthcoming AfricaConnect project extension and to draw maximum benefit from it, and thereby to ensure WACREN’s integration into the global Research and Education networking community.<br /><div><br /></div><div>TANDEM’s long-term goal is to make it possible for researchers and academics to contribute with their peers around the world to the socio-economic development of the West and Central African Region. <br />TANDEM will include focus on services for user groups, including raising awareness of the benefits of eduroam and identity federations.&nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><div>The project will promote and reinforce, by focusing on <b>research topics such as health, food security, the environment, connectivity and the implementation of global e-infrastructure services</b>, the deployment of a Regional Research and Education Network (RREN) and their interconnection with the European Research and Education network (GÉANT). To be more effective towards this goal, TANDEM also includes among its partners DANTE, UBUNTUNET and CLARA, all of which are directly involved in issues related to global interconnections of international networks.</div><div><br /></div><div>The <b>end-users</b> are:</div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Connectivity services (IP, VPNs, DNS, etc.);&nbsp;</li><li>Mobility and authentication services (e.g. eduroam, identity federations, certificates);&nbsp;</li><li>Applications which give access to data repositories, data visualisation tools, computing grids, etc.;&nbsp;</li><li>Collaboration tools, e.g. web-conferencing, file transfer, user group management tools, meeting management tools, wiki, etc.</li></ul></div><div><b>Duration</b> : 24 months <br /><b>Partners</b> : IRD, WACREN, DANTE, RENATER, CIRAD, Sigma Orionis, Brunel University, UbuntuNet Alliance, RedCLARA</div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a class="a2a_dd" href="http://www.addtoany.com/share_save"><img alt="Share" border="0" height="16" src="http://static.addtoany.com/buttons/share_save_171_16.png" width="171" /></a> <script src="http://static.addtoany.com/menu/page.js" type="text/javascript">
</script></div>François Stepmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09437969068162640227noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8143635796713746684.post-37541030923633986562015-02-27T02:09:00.001-08:002015-02-27T02:21:51.273-08:00Processing Soya goussi in Benin<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bopinc.org/sites/www.bopinc.org/files/styles/sidebar/public/updates/soya_goussi.png?itok=5tg7rwHT" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.bopinc.org/sites/www.bopinc.org/files/styles/sidebar/public/updates/soya_goussi.png?itok=5tg7rwHT" height="193" width="320" /></a></div><b>17 February 2015.</b> ICRA/BoPInnovation Center/2Scale. &nbsp;the&nbsp;<i>Coopérative de Transformation, d’Approvisionnement et d’Écoulement de Soja (CTAE) </i><a href="http://www.bopinc.org/updates/news/marketing-affordable-and-nutritious-food">is a cooperative of farmers in Benin</a> that produce <b>soya goussi,</b> a by-product of soya that can be consumed in sauce and that people like.<br /><br />Goussi made from soybean. It tastes almost identical to traditional goussi and is more nutritious, more profitable and far less labor-intensive to produce.<br /><br />It’s easy to produce, cheap, and full of proteins, but hardly anybody knows about it. Together with the farmers,&nbsp;2Scale is&nbsp;developing marketing activities to&nbsp;increase the sales. This means creating attractive packaging, promotion messages for radio and print and organizing sessions where people can test the food.&nbsp;2Scale&nbsp;closely monitors the results of all marketing&nbsp;efforts so that the project can quickly adapt and scale up.<br /><br />In less than 2 years, soy goussi has become the <b>main source of protein</b> for at least 11,000 families in southern Benin. 2SCALE is supporting a new CTAE pilot program that aims to increase this number to 15,000. Read more on soya goussi in the&nbsp;<a href="http://www.icra-edu.org/objects/partnerships/2SCALE_Newsletter_Jan-March_2014.pdf">2SCALE newsletter (Jan-March 2014)</a>.<br /><br />Another product from a group of farmers is <b>soy cheese</b>. Again, the product is affordable and nutritious, but it doesn’t sell. Talking to the farmers, they all had a different view on the reason why too few cheeses are sold. Some said the taste was bad, others said distribution was the issue, others said the product looked unattractive. To find out the actual reason and increase sales, 2Scale will initiate a market research. 2Scale will interview retailers and consumers to find out which priority to address first. From there we will start educating the farmers on hygiene, create larger distribution networks and what else is needed to improve the production and marketing of the cheese, based on the research outcomes.<br /><blockquote style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" type="cite"><div style="word-wrap: break-word;"></div></blockquote></div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="//www.dailymotion.com/embed/video/x2hfuod" width="480"></iframe><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2hfuod_goussi-de-soja_shortfilms" target="_blank">Goussi de soja</a> <i>door <a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/moovon" target="_blank">moovon</a></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="color: red;">Related</span></b></div></div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><a href="http://www.icra-edu.org/objects/partnerships/Story-2columns_Soya-s.pdf">Soy makes both men and women happy, Benin (pdf, 265K)</a></li><li><a href="http://www.icra-edu.org/objects/partnerships/Benin_Soya-Fr-s.pdf">Le soja fait le bonheur des hommes et des femmes (Bénin) (pdf, 267K)</a></li></ul><b><span style="color: red;">Related:</span></b>To know more about Agri-business clusters (ABCs), you can have a look at the video <a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xntv8k_united-through-markets-africa_shortfilms">United through markets</a>: Building capacity for competitive agricultural systems and enterprises in W. Africa: 4 examples of Agri-Business Clusters in <b>Ghana and Togo</b>.<br /><div><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="//www.dailymotion.com/embed/video/xntv8k" width="480"></iframe><br /></div><a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xntv8k_united-through-markets-africa_shortfilms" target="_blank">United through markets - Africa</a> <i>door <a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/moovon" target="_blank">moovon</a></i></div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a class="a2a_dd" href="http://www.addtoany.com/share_save"><img alt="Share" border="0" height="16" src="http://static.addtoany.com/buttons/share_save_171_16.png" width="171" /></a> <script src="http://static.addtoany.com/menu/page.js" type="text/javascript">
</script></div>François Stepmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09437969068162640227noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8143635796713746684.post-81270005293871145452015-02-27T01:39:00.002-08:002015-02-27T01:39:50.877-08:00The Crop and Goat Project in Tanzania from a gender perspective<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://cgspace.cgiar.org/bitstream/handle/10568/56780/DiscussionPaper30.pdf.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://cgspace.cgiar.org/bitstream/handle/10568/56780/DiscussionPaper30.pdf.jpg" /></a></div><div><b>26 February 2015.</b>&nbsp;<a href="https://cgspace.cgiar.org/handle/10568/56780">This paper</a> synthesises<a href="http://livestockfish.cgiar.org/2015/02/26/cgp-gender/?utm_source=feedburner&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Livestock-fishnews+%28CRP+Livestock+Fish+news%29"> ILRI’s experience</a> with the Crop and Goat Project (CGP) in Tanzania from a gender perspective.</div><br />Some findings were identified which are worthwhile pursuing in future similar projects. For example, access to and control over assets and the products and proceeds gained from them increased the independence of male and female household members as they can now make decisions with little dependence on resources of others.<br /><br />The project has also been able to positively improve some of the key domains of gender empowerment, i.e. asset ownership, decisions-making ability and authority, independence, improved sense of worth, willingness and ability to question one’s status and capacity to negotiate relationships and change labour patterns.</div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a class="a2a_dd" href="http://www.addtoany.com/share_save"><img alt="Share" border="0" height="16" src="http://static.addtoany.com/buttons/share_save_171_16.png" width="171" /></a> <script src="http://static.addtoany.com/menu/page.js" type="text/javascript">
</script></div>François Stepmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09437969068162640227noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8143635796713746684.post-67779997431071442682015-02-26T06:14:00.000-08:002015-02-26T06:14:41.091-08:00Participatory research for social learning and conservation of forest fruit trees<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Published on <b>11 Dec 2014</b><br />Bioversity International and Life Trust work with local communities of the beautiful forests of India’s Western Ghats - one of the planet’s major biodiversity spots. Different gender and socio-cultural groups were brought together to exchange their knowledge on native fruit trees. This resulted in the creation of a women’s group to sell new products from local fruits. The film documents the experience of Yenki and Nageveni, members of this women’s group, and Narasimha Hegde, the researcher who led the project in the field.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZI8tqITjWdM" width="560"></iframe><br /></div><br />The short version of the film ‘<a href="http://youtu.be/1WgPz09vZXU">Climbing to survive</a>’ (5min) is centered around a story of Yenki, the woman who depends on forest resources for her livelihood. There is also a longer version'<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZI8tqITjWdM">Participatory Research for Social Learning and Conservation of Forest Fruit Trees</a>' (10 mins) which includes a couple of other interviews highlighting the way in which participatory research on forest resources was conducted and its value for social learning and better quality of data. You can read more about the participatory production of the videos in <a href="http://www.bioversityinternational.org/news/detail/two-films-on-participatory-research-and-fruit-trees-in-the-western-ghatsnbsp/">this post</a>.<br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a class="a2a_dd" href="http://www.addtoany.com/share_save"><img alt="Share" border="0" height="16" src="http://static.addtoany.com/buttons/share_save_171_16.png" width="171" /></a> <script src="http://static.addtoany.com/menu/page.js" type="text/javascript">
</script></div>François Stepmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09437969068162640227noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8143635796713746684.post-91452524588663218932015-02-24T07:50:00.001-08:002015-02-24T07:58:46.954-08:00Dialogue on food security and Policy Coherence for Development hosted by European Commission<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://ecdpm.org/wp-content/uploads/Logo_Food-Security_cmyk.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://ecdpm.org/wp-content/uploads/Logo_Food-Security_cmyk.png" height="102" width="320" /></a></div><b>24 February 2015.</b> Brussels.<b>&nbsp;</b><a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/FS/Mijn%20documenten/Downloads/PCD%20and%20food%20security%20dialogue_Programme%20final.pdf">Dialogue on food security and Policy Coherence for Development </a>hosted by European Commission - DG EuropeAid and CONCORD.<br /><br />DEVCO co-hosted with CONCORD this conference aiming at facilitating a multi-stakeholder dialogue between the EU, civil society, representatives from the EU Member States and the European Parliament on the relations amongst EU policies and programmes and their coherence with food and nutrition security objectives in developing countries.<br /><div><br /></div><div>The conference contributed to build stronger ties between all the stakeholders involved. It was the occasion for civil society and the EU to present their vision on food security challenges and share understanding on key issues. It also explored ways to establish regular occasions for information sharing and exchange among the stakeholders. See:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.donorplatform.org/load/2764/2420">Meeting Agenda</a></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gmpxZehhh_A/VOydH8cV6TI/AAAAAAAAEAw/LJ9EvMtYe7c/s1600/food%2Bsecurity.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gmpxZehhh_A/VOydH8cV6TI/AAAAAAAAEAw/LJ9EvMtYe7c/s1600/food%2Bsecurity.jpg" height="278" width="320" /></a></div><div>This dialogue was also an opportunity to launch the report:&nbsp;</div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><a href="http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/sites/devco/files/communication-eu-food-nutrition-commitments-first-biennial-report-com2014-712-20141202_en.pdf">Implementing EU food and nutrition security policy commitments: first biennial report. </a>(14 pages)&nbsp;(jointly produced by Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the EU)&nbsp;</li><li>This report is accompanied by a Staff Working Document (SWD), which provides additional information and case studies.&nbsp;<a href="https://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/sites/devco/files/swd-implementing-eu-food-nutrition-security-policy-commitments-first-biennial-report-2014-343-20141202_en.pdf">Staff Working Document: Implementing EU food and nutrition security policy commitments: first biennial report</a>&nbsp;</li></ul><div><ol style="text-align: left;"><li><b><span style="color: blue;">Policy Priority 1:</span></b> Improve smallholder resilience and rural livelihoods</li><li><b><span style="color: blue;">Policy Priority 2:</span></b> Support effective governance</li><li><b><span style="color: blue;">Policy Priority 3: </span></b>Support regional agriculture and food and nutrition security policies</li><li><b><span style="color: blue;">Policy Priority 4:</span></b> Strengthen social protection mechanisms for food and nutrition security, particularly for vulnerable population groups</li><li><b><span style="color: blue;">Policy Priority 5: </span></b>Enhance nutrition in particular for mothers, infants and children</li><li><b><span style="color: blue;">Policy Priority 6:</span></b> Enhance coordination between development and humanitarian actors to build resilience and promote sustainable food and nutrition security</li></ol></div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a class="a2a_dd" href="http://www.addtoany.com/share_save"><img alt="Share" border="0" height="16" src="http://static.addtoany.com/buttons/share_save_171_16.png" width="171" /></a> <script src="http://static.addtoany.com/menu/page.js" type="text/javascript">
</script></div>François Stepmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09437969068162640227noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8143635796713746684.post-29426605130616573102015-02-24T06:53:00.001-08:002015-02-25T23:49:57.163-08:00High level planning meeting on scaling agricultural Innovations in Africa<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://faraafrica.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Group-photo-.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://faraafrica.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Group-photo-.jpg" height="217" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">Front row from left, Dr Yemi Akinbamijo (ED of FARA),&nbsp;</span></div><span style="color: blue;"></span><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">Dr. Osman Badiane (IFPRI Africa Regional Director),&nbsp;</span></span></div><span style="color: blue;"></span><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">HE Mrs Tumusime Rhoda Peace (Commissioner for rural Economy&nbsp;</span></span></div><span style="color: blue;"></span><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">and Agriculture of the Africa Union) Dr. Stefan Schmitz (Deputy&nbsp;</span></span></div><span style="color: blue;"></span><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">Director general, Special Unit “One World- No Hunger” BMZ)</span></span></div><span style="color: blue;"></span><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">and Dr Adugna W. Gemelal. (DDG EIAR, Ethiopia)</span></span></div><span style="color: blue;"></span></td></tr></tbody></table><b>23-24 February 2015</b>. Nairobi, Kenya. <a href="http://faraafrica.org/news-events/fara-mobilized-research-leaders-in-africa-to-devise-strategies-to-scale-agricultural-innovations/">This 2-day workshop</a> generated the framework for the implementation of the Program of Accompanying Research with Innovation (PARI), that is proposed to be implemented in 12 African countries and supported by the Government of the republic of Germany.<br /><div><br /></div>Policy makers, and technocrats from twelve countries in Africa and development partners from Germany discussed ways of scaling agricultural innovations in Africa within the framework of the <a href="http://www.bmz.de/g7/en/aktuelles/150324_SEWOH-Auftakt/index.html">One World No Hunger initiative</a> spearheaded by the government of Germany in partnership with the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa.<br /><div><br />One of the key aims of the meeting was to discuss ways of addressing issues that affects food security, agrarian livelihood as well as sustainable value chain development through scaling of agricultural innovations.<br /><br /><b><span style="color: red;">Background:</span></b><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bmz.de/includes/images/_layoutRebrush/logo_bmz_en.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.bmz.de/includes/images/_layoutRebrush/logo_bmz_en.gif" /></a></div>During Germany's G7 Presidency the BMZ will hold the chair of the G7 Food Security Working Group. The BMZ has suggested that the G7 develop an "expanded food security agenda" that goes beyond merely increasing production and promoting investment in agriculture to underline the wide-ranging significance of<br />food security. Initial ideas are currently being discussed.<br /><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><a href="http://www.bmz.de/en/publications/type_of_publication/information_flyer/information_brochures/Materialie215_Information_Brochure_08_2011.pdf">Agricultural Research for Development – Creating Opportunities</a></li><li><a href="http://www.bmz.de/en/publications/type_of_publication/strategies/Strategiepapier302_01_2011.pdf">Rural development and its contribution to food security</a>&nbsp;<a href="http://www.bmz.de/en/publications/type_of_publication/strategies/Strategiepapier302_01_2011.pdf">BMZ Strategy Paper</a></li><li><a href="http://www.bmz.de/en/publications/type_of_publication/strategies/Strategiepapier332_03_2013.pdf">Promoting Sustainable Agriculture&nbsp;</a></li></ul><b>23 Feb 2015</b>&nbsp;: &nbsp;<a href="http://www.cnbcafrica.com/video/?bctid=4076157783001">Interview of&nbsp;CNBC Africa&nbsp;with&nbsp;Yemi Akinbamijo</a>&nbsp;- executive director at the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa.&nbsp;<i>The role of agriculture in a country's economy can never be overstated, yet this vital sector has&nbsp;suffered from a myriad of challenges among them being insufficient budgetary allocation, however the use of technology and innovation remains key in unlocking Africa's potential through scaling of agriculture,</i><br /><br /><b>24 Feb 2015</b>&nbsp;: CNBC Africa continues to put a spotlight at the role of Agriculture in African economies, with special interest in how innovation can help transform the sector.<a href="http://www.cnbcafrica.com/video/?bctid=4077890502001">&nbsp;Tumusiime Rhoda Peace</a>, the commissioner for rural economy and agriculture at the African Union sheds more light on this.<br /><br /><b><span style="color: red;">Related:</span></b><br />Published on <b>12 Feb 2015</b><br /><i>“Within one generation it is realistic to get rid of hunger completely and to reduce malnutrition considerably”</i>, said Stefan Schmitz of BMZ’s ‘One World no Hunger’ initiative. In this interview with the Platform secretariat he emphasised that a world without hunger was indeed realistic and doable -- if only we all focused on it, donors and partner countries together. <i>"That is our goal, and that is the key message,”</i> he said.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/jfxem15Tdz0" width="560"></iframe></div></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xpa1/v/t1.0-9/1521623_786716558015806_5351323071341227023_n.jpg?oh=fc48a28c1610cee107d6bfc0cc7f00ff&amp;oe=559704FA&amp;__gda__=1435773383_b54c41388a199bfa0a346d17be389a75" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xpa1/v/t1.0-9/1521623_786716558015806_5351323071341227023_n.jpg?oh=fc48a28c1610cee107d6bfc0cc7f00ff&amp;oe=559704FA&amp;__gda__=1435773383_b54c41388a199bfa0a346d17be389a75" width="320" /></a></div><div><b><span style="color: red;">Related:</span></b></div><div><b>28 August 2014</b>. Berlin, Germany.&nbsp;<img src="https://fbexternal-a.akamaihd.net/safe_image.php?d=AQDrcSuNJUNecfPm&amp;w=470&amp;h=246&amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Finisa.de%2Fimages%2Fveranstaltungen%2FINISA-KAS-Africas-Green-Revolution-28-08-2014.jpg&amp;cfs=1&amp;upscale=1" /><a href="http://www.inisa.de/seminare-veranstaltungen/entry/28-08-2014-a-green-revolution-for-africa-how-to-boost-the-productivity-of-african-agriculture-berlin">Expert Roundtable and Public Discussion:A Green Revolution for Africa?</a> - How to boost the productivity of African agriculture?</div><div><br /></div>German Development Cooperation intends, according to the new Africa Policy, to contribute to the strengthening of agricultural value chains in Africa.<br /><div><br /></div><div>Which role can the 10 „Green Centres“, to be financed by the BMZ and implemented in cooperation with German Agro Business, play in this regard? How can the planned 10 vocational training centres for rural development contribute towards this end and how will the cooperation with the German private sector look like?&nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://graph.facebook.com/349385545082245/picture?type=normal" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://graph.facebook.com/349385545082245/picture?type=normal" /></a></div><div><a href="http://www.inisa.de/">Initiative Südliches Afrika (INISA)</a> and <a href="http://www.kas.de/">Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung</a> brought together experts and the interested public in order to enhance the debate on key preconditions and challenges for sustainable development of the agro-sector in Sub-Saharan Africa.&nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Panel Discussion</b>How to boost the productivity of African agriculture?&nbsp;</div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Chair: Prof. Awudu Abdulai , Christian-Albrechts-University, Kiel&nbsp;</li><li>Prof. Chinwe Ifejika Speranza, Bonn University&nbsp;</li><li>Michael Brander, Senior Policy Expert, Biovision Foundation&nbsp;</li><li>Dr. Susanne Neubert, SLE, Humboldt University, Berlin&nbsp;</li><li>Prof. Keijiro Otsuka, National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies, Tokyo&nbsp;</li><li>Dr. Aggrey Agumya, Technical Advisor to the Executive Director, Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA)&nbsp;</li><li>Dr. Stefan Schmitz, Head of Division, Special Initiative “For a world without hunger”, Germ</li></ul></div><div>See <a href="http://inisa-kas-africas-green-revolution-v2-28-08-2014.pdf/">programme</a></div><div><br /></div><div><b>Presentations:</b></div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><a href="http://www.inisa.de/doks-a-downloads/func-startdown/113/">Stefan Schmitz: „One World – No Hunger“ Initiative BMZ</a></li><li><a href="http://www.inisa.de/doks-a-downloads/func-startdown/114/">Aggrey Agumya: The right Framework for African Agricultural Productivity"</a></li><li><a href="http://www.inisa.de/doks-a-downloads/func-startdown/115/">Keijiro Otsuka: Finding Ways to Boost Productivity on Small Farms</a></li></ul></div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a class="a2a_dd" href="http://www.addtoany.com/share_save"><img alt="Share" border="0" height="16" src="http://static.addtoany.com/buttons/share_save_171_16.png" width="171" /></a> <script src="http://static.addtoany.com/menu/page.js" type="text/javascript">
</script></div>François Stepmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09437969068162640227noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8143635796713746684.post-70257951817639141472015-02-24T03:33:00.006-08:002015-02-24T03:37:39.913-08:00Africa Fertilizer 2015 conference<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B-NZVt5IMAAvRnl.jpg:large" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B-NZVt5IMAAvRnl.jpg:large" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">Prof. Mkandawire on the East and Southern Africa platform&nbsp;</span></div><span style="color: blue;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">that is planned for October 2015 in Lusaka, Zambia.</span></div></span></td></tr></tbody></table><b>18-20 February 2015</b>. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. <a href="http://www.argusmedia.com/events/argus-events/europe/fert-africa/home">Africa Fertilizer 2015 conference. </a>Over 350 delegates from<br /> 55 countries attended the conference. The conference received the highest ever number of attending delegates from Africa - including 10 delegates from Ghana, 20 from Ethiopia and 25 from Kenya.<br /><div><br /></div><div>Key speakers at the 2015 conference included:<br /><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>H.E. Tefera Derbew, the Minister of Agriculture for Ethiopia updated the audience on the development strategies for 2015&nbsp;</li><li>Khalid Bomba, CEO at the Agricultural Transformation Agency discussed the need for transforming agriculture in Africa&nbsp;</li><li>Bashir Jama, the Soil Health Programme Director at AGRA covered the importance of complete fertilization of smallholder Agriculture in Africa&nbsp;</li><li>E.M. Muriuki the Managing Director of MEA Fertilizers provided an update on blended fertilizer production in Kenya&nbsp;</li><li>Jean Bakole the Regional Director of Ethiopia from the United Nations Industrial Development Organization discussed available mineral resources in Africa</li></ul><img src="http://www.argusmedia.com/~/media/Images/Icons/Orange-icons/Report.gif?h=16&amp;w=16&amp;la=en" /> <a href="http://www.argusmedia.com/~/media/Files/PDFs/Argus-Events/Europe/2015/Argus-FMB-Africa-2015-Brochure-FRENCH.pdf?la=en">Télécharger la brochure de présentation de la conférence</a><br /><img src="http://www.argusmedia.com/~/media/Images/Icons/Orange-icons/White-Paper.gif?la=en" /> <a href="http://www.argusmedia.com/~/media/Files/PDFs/Argus-Events/Europe/2015/Argus-FMB-Fertilizer-Africa-2015-Brochure.pdf?la=en">Download the 2015 conference brochure</a></div><div><br /><div>During the conference the AfricaFertilizer.org’s newly designed and expanded website was launched <a href="http://www.africafertilizer.org/">www.AfricaFertilizer.org</a> , addressing sector’s need for fertilizer market information and data in Africa:</div><ul style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B-IMMeFIAAATHb1.png:large" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B-IMMeFIAAATHb1.png:large" width="320" /></a><li>The expanded site features new content and media including company profiles, product catalogues and business directories.</li><li>The revamped website equips fertilizer actors with rich resources and market information on fertilizer products, supply and operators, filling a longstanding knowledge gap that has traditionally inhibited Africa’s food security and agricultural development.</li></ul><span style="color: blue;">Mounir Halim</span> the Business Development Manager at Argus FMB gives an overview of fertilizer development within Africa.</div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="281" mozallowfullscreen="" src="//player.vimeo.com/video/120096653" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="500"></iframe></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/gNKVduFqSFg" width="560"></iframe></div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a class="a2a_dd" href="http://www.addtoany.com/share_save"><img alt="Share" border="0" height="16" src="http://static.addtoany.com/buttons/share_save_171_16.png" width="171" /></a> <script src="http://static.addtoany.com/menu/page.js" type="text/javascript">
</script></div>François Stepmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09437969068162640227noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8143635796713746684.post-60734684752045906482015-02-23T02:44:00.001-08:002015-02-23T02:57:02.937-08:00Scaling up Nutrition - Kenya <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://scontent-ams.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfp1/v/t1.0-9/10984061_386807761480930_1499270895462571350_n.jpg?oh=71cef5e2e2fa134644fe464f3d3baf30&amp;oe=554B65E5" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="140" src="https://scontent-ams.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfp1/v/t1.0-9/10984061_386807761480930_1499270895462571350_n.jpg?oh=71cef5e2e2fa134644fe464f3d3baf30&amp;oe=554B65E5" width="400" /></a></div><b></b><br /><div><b><b><br /></b></b></div><b>18 February 2015</b>. Nairobi.&nbsp;Kenya School of Monetary Studies.<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17.5636348724365px;">&nbsp;</span>Biodiversity and locally available foods provide cheap and ready access to key micronutrients to help boost mother and child nutrition, particularly children from 6 to 24 months of age when breast milk alone is insufficient and mothers switch from exclusive breastfeeding to feeding infants with family foods.<br /><br /><div><a href="https://scontent-ams.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpf1/v/t1.0-9/10987685_386799391481767_8118961424927720990_n.jpg?oh=acd1b6cf72a947e65c8ca929e5a49e49&amp;oe=55804BD5" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="130" src="https://scontent-ams.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpf1/v/t1.0-9/10987685_386799391481767_8118961424927720990_n.jpg?oh=acd1b6cf72a947e65c8ca929e5a49e49&amp;oe=55804BD5" width="200" /></a></div><div>This was the message the <a href="http://www.b4fn.org/">Biodiversity for Food and Nutrition Initiative (B4FN)</a> through its partner, the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Organization (KALRO), brought to National Nutrition Symposium where the new EU-funded Maternal and Child Malnutrition Program, worth US$ 23 million jointly launched by the Government of Kenya, the European Union and UNICEF in Nairobi, was unveiled.</div><div><br /></div><br /><b><span style="color: red;">Background:</span></b><br />The <a href="http://scalingupnutrition.org/">Scaling Up Nutrition Movement (SUN) </a>is a growing group of countries (currently 54) who believe in the principle that all people have a right to food and good nutrition. The GEF 'Mainstreaming biodiversity for nutrition and health' initiative is led by Brazil, Kenya, Sri Lanka and Turkey and coordinated by Bioversity International, with implementation support from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and additional support from the CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health.<br /><div><br /></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://blog.results.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Titus-presents-background-of-SUN-CSA-during-Global-Day-of-Action-May-2014-300x206.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://blog.results.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Titus-presents-background-of-SUN-CSA-during-Global-Day-of-Action-May-2014-300x206.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: blue;">Titus Mung’ou, Chair of Kenya’s SUN <br />Civil Society Alliance (CSA)</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div><a href="http://scalingupnutrition.org/sun-countries/kenya">Kenya’s Civil Society Alliance</a> is part of the Civil Society Network and was set up to ‘Mobilise Civil Societies to Champion Scaling up Nutrition in Kenya.’ The alliance primarily undertakes capacity building of Civil Society Organisations to scale up nutrition, advocacy at national and local level and aims to support the government and, in particular the Ministry of Health, to develop nutrition related policy as well as communication documents.<br /><br />The Kenya SUN Civil Society Alliance was officially launched on the first ever <a href="http://scalingupnutrition.org/news/sun-civil-society-network-global-day-of-action-2014#.VLeUndKsX2c">SUN Global Day of Action</a> on 9th May 2014. On this day, six SUN countries organised specific events, to highlight to their political <br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://scontent-ams.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpf1/v/t1.0-9/1505264_389183804576659_8716928121872412913_n.jpg?oh=ca36e75b2e5eaf55f687b4557a64421a&amp;oe=55839A1E" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://scontent-ams.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpf1/v/t1.0-9/1505264_389183804576659_8716928121872412913_n.jpg?oh=ca36e75b2e5eaf55f687b4557a64421a&amp;oe=55839A1E" width="320" /></a></div>leaders the importance of investing in nutrition head of the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/nutrition-for-growth-beating-hunger-through-business-and-science">Nutrition for Growth: Beating Hunger through Business and Science meeting</a>, hosted by the UK, on the 8th June 2013. The launch, alongside the actions of other countries, gave the CSA the platform to discuss the progress Kenya has made on nutrition since it first joined the SUN movement in 2012 and to develop opportunities for civil society to make their voices heard.<br /><div><br /></div><div>The First Lady Margaret Kenyatta has accepted to be the country’s Nutrition Patron. Since 2013, CSA members have been engaging with various SUN networks to position nutrition at the highest level in the government and to establish SUN MSP. The process towards establishing the MSP took another step forward on 23rd January 2015 when, for the first time, all members of the SUN Networks met.</div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>Published on 18 Feb 2015.&nbsp;</b>First Lady Margaret Kenyatta's speech during the National Nutrition Symposium and launch of the GOK-EU-UNICEF Maternal and Child Nutrition Program.<br /><div><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/s9-Xh0QYivY" width="420"></iframe></div><br /><a href="http://www.bioversityinternational.org/news/detail/the-sun-shines-brightly-on-kenyas-efforts-to-link-nutrition-and-agriculture/">The First Lady welcomed efforts under the Scaling Up Nutrition</a> (SUN) umbrella to bring together stakeholders from the government ministries, donors, UN agencies, civil society and business organizations and particularly efforts to link nutrition to agriculture through the Nutrition Interagency Coordinating Committee (NICC).&nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><div>Dr Victor Wasike, National Project Coordinator for the BFN Initiative in Kenya and who also represents BFN on the NICC, was instrumental in advocating the use of biodiversity in food-based interventions to tackle malnutrition. According to Dr Wasike, participating in committees such as the NICC provides an excellent opportunity to showcase the work that the BFN initiative is undertaking at the county and grassroots level in Busia to promote nutrient-rich biodiversity. It can also help significantly in efforts to mainstream biodiversity into national plans and action and the scaling up of local activities.&nbsp;</div><blockquote class="tr_bq">Ms. Kenyatta called for<i> “both national and county governments to allocate enough resources to support the implementation of a national nutrition action plan”</i> and offered support for counties to develop their own nutrition plans under Kenya’s new devolved system.</blockquote></div></div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a class="a2a_dd" href="http://www.addtoany.com/share_save"><img alt="Share" border="0" height="16" src="http://static.addtoany.com/buttons/share_save_171_16.png" width="171" /></a> <script src="http://static.addtoany.com/menu/page.js" type="text/javascript">
</script></div>François Stepmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09437969068162640227noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8143635796713746684.post-76499485404866465332015-02-21T02:15:00.000-08:002015-02-21T02:15:39.978-08:00Highlight on some FP7 Africa Call projects related to Agriculture, water and climate change in Africa<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">This video gives some background to following FP7 funded projects (FP7Africa Call 2009) which are coming to a completion in 2015 or were completed in 2014:<br /><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>The <b><span style="color: blue;">AGRICAB project</span></b>: <a href="http://www.agricab.info/Pages/home.aspx">Developing increased Earth observation capacity for better agriculture and forestry management in Africa</a>. (FP7-ENV, 1 Oct 2011-30 June 2015)</li>Eau4food:&nbsp; <li><b><span style="color: blue;">EAU4Food</span></b>: European Union and African Union cooperative research to <a href="http://www.eau4food.info/">increase Food production in irrigated farming systems in Africa</a></li><li><span style="color: blue;"><b>WHATER</b></span>: <a href="http://whater.eu/">Water harvesting technologies revisited: Potentials for innovations, improvements and upscaling in sub-Saharan Africa</a>&nbsp;</li><li><b><span style="color: blue;">CLARA</span></b>: <a href="http://clara.boku.ac.at/">Capacity-Linked water and sanitation for Africa's peri-urban and Rural Areas</a>&nbsp;(2011-2014)</li></ul></div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/bLT1e1Nswfo" width="560"></iframe></div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a class="a2a_dd" href="http://www.addtoany.com/share_save"><img alt="Share" border="0" height="16" src="http://static.addtoany.com/buttons/share_save_171_16.png" width="171" /></a> <script src="http://static.addtoany.com/menu/page.js" type="text/javascript">
</script></div>François Stepmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09437969068162640227noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8143635796713746684.post-31190215407471832272015-02-20T10:56:00.000-08:002015-02-20T10:56:36.769-08:00BIOFACH - World's leading Trade Fair for Organic Food<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><b>10-13 February 2015</b>.&nbsp;The <a href="https://www.biofach.de/en/press/press-releases/biofach-and-vivaness-2015-receive-over-44000-trade-visitors--pressnews--/?focus=en&amp;focus2=nxps%3a%2f%2fnueme%2fpressnews%2f7f130903-5529-4f5f-a53c-b6d5db2055d6%2f%3ffair%3dbiofach%26language%3den">2015 BIOFACH and VIVANESS Congress</a>, which included more than 100 separate discussions, was attended by 7,000 interested listeners and participants. Taking place this year for the first time, the Politics Forum experienced particularly strong interest, drawing more than 1,000 visitors to its events. The discussion on the free trade agreement between the EU and the USA “TTIP - an opportunity or a threat to the organic industry” proved to be especially popular.<br /><br />In 2014, German households spent 4.8 % more on organic food and drink than in the year before, with sales amounting to just under EUR 8bn according to the German Federation of the Organic Food Industry (BÖLW). The natural cosmetics market has also grown significantly. A general survey conducted by naturkosmetik konzepte, GfK, IRI, IMS Health and BioVista shows that over EUR 1bn were generated from natural cosmetics in 2014, 10 % more than in 2013.<div><br /></div><div><b><span style="color: red;">Some African&nbsp;organic agriculture&nbsp;exhibitors:</span></b></div><div><div><br /><div><a href="https://www.biofach.de/Edb/Edb3/LoadExhibitorImage?id=14954347&amp;width=120&amp;height=120" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://www.biofach.de/Edb/Edb3/LoadExhibitorImage?id=14954347&amp;width=120&amp;height=120" /></a><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.biofach.de/Edb/Edb3/LoadProductImage?id=1533001" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://www.biofach.de/Edb/Edb3/LoadProductImage?id=1533001" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: blue;">Dried coconut</span></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div><a href="https://www.biofach.de/en/ausstellerprodukte/bio15/exhibitor-14954347/wad-african-foods-limited/">WAD African Foods Limited</a></div><div>WAD (Weija Agricultural Development) was founded in the year 2000 and exports mainly dried and fresh pineapples, dried coconut, dried mangos and dried papaya. WAD African Foods believes in the potential of small farmers in <b>Ghana</b>. <br /><br />The company’s target is to alleviate poverty in the country and to fight against the dependence of the famers. WAD African Foods supports small-scale farmers improving their standard of living by training them and promoting their products on the European market.&nbsp;The company works with middle-class farmers group in different regions of Ghana. Over 200 farmer families supply WAD with their products which are certified by IMO Switzerland.</div></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.biofach.de/Edb/Edb3/LoadExhibitorImage?id=15668092" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://www.biofach.de/Edb/Edb3/LoadExhibitorImage?id=15668092" /></a></div><a href="https://www.biofach.de/en/ausstellerprodukte/?focus=edb3exhibitor&amp;focus2=15668092&amp;focus3=bio15&amp;highlight=africa">NOGAMU/BioAfrican Pavillion</a><div>A unique feature of Uganda 's organic agriculture is the high coordination, involvement and commitment from all stakeholders in the organic sector. From public institutions including the ministries of Trade, Agriculture, Uganda Export Promotions Board, Uganda National Bureau of Standards, Uganda Coffee Development Authority, Cotton development Organization, the Presidents office, to private institutions (all under the umbrella of NOGAMU) these include&nbsp;<a href="http://www.nogamu.org.ug/index.php?page=nog_fassoc">farmers associations</a>, <a href="http://www.nogamu.org.ug/cope_members.php">export companies</a>, NGOs, CBOs, private Universities (e.g. Uganda Martyr's University). </div></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.biofach.de/Edb/Edb3/LoadExhibitorImage?id=15999670" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://www.biofach.de/Edb/Edb3/LoadExhibitorImage?id=15999670" /></a></div><div><a href="https://www.biofach.de/en/ausstellerprodukte/?focus=edb3exhibitor&amp;focus2=15999670&amp;focus3=bio15&amp;highlight=africa">ADUNA</a></div>Aduna is an Africa-inspired health and beauty brand and social business. Their mission is to create demand for exceptional and underutilised natural ingredients that we source directly from small-scale producers in Africa. Their first two ‘super-ingredients’ baobab and moringa are the best-selling superfoods in leading UK health and beauty retailers including WholeFoods, Planet Organic, Liberty and Selfridges.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.biofach.de/Edb/Edb3/LoadExhibitorImage?id=14954337" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://www.biofach.de/Edb/Edb3/LoadExhibitorImage?id=14954337" /></a></div><div><a href="https://www.biofach.de/en/ausstellerprodukte/?focus=edb3exhibitor&amp;focus2=14954337&amp;focus3=bio15&amp;highlight=africa">Agro Eco-Louis Bolk Institute</a> is an independent organisation specialised in project management, training and advice on organic and sustainable agriculture in the tropics. From their office in Accra (Ghana) they work in various countries of East and West Africa. Central pillars of their work are their systems approach, respect for the integrity of life, and a participatory methodology. Among their international clients are CARE, Progreso and Oxfam Novib.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.biofach.de/Edb/Edb3/LoadExhibitorImage?id=15575009" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://www.biofach.de/Edb/Edb3/LoadExhibitorImage?id=15575009" /></a></div><div>Set on a fertile, rural 40 hectare plantation in Vivo, deep in the province of Limpopo, South Africa, where conditions are ideal to cultivate aloe plants, <a href="https://www.biofach.de/en/ausstellerprodukte/?focus=edb3exhibitor&amp;focus2=15575009&amp;focus3=bio15&amp;highlight=africa">Aloway Natural Health Products</a>. (Aloway) is home to the first manufacturing facility of organic Aloe Vera on an industrial scale in South Africa. When cultivation began at Aloway in 2008, it reached out to the local community to source workers for the facility. This has had a positive spin off for the rural people of Vivo, as job creation is desperately needed in these remote areas.</div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a class="a2a_dd" href="http://www.addtoany.com/share_save"><img alt="Share" border="0" height="16" src="http://static.addtoany.com/buttons/share_save_171_16.png" width="171" /></a> <script src="http://static.addtoany.com/menu/page.js" type="text/javascript">
</script></div>François Stepmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09437969068162640227noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8143635796713746684.post-63389060552423250972015-02-20T09:19:00.000-08:002015-02-20T09:28:26.219-08:00Opportunities for sustainable, green and inclusive agricultural value chains in ACP countries<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://cta.int/images/publications/xopportunities-for-agricultural-value-chains-in-ACP-countries2.jpg.pagespeed.ic.RGcoSha9bB.webp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://cta.int/images/publications/xopportunities-for-agricultural-value-chains-in-ACP-countries2.jpg.pagespeed.ic.RGcoSha9bB.webp" height="320" width="224" /></a></div><a href="http://cta.int/en/article/2015-02-19/smallholders-and-value-chains-a-winning-formula-new-publication.html">Opportunities for sustainable, green and inclusive agricultural value chains in ACP countries</a><br />By M J Westlake<br />Based on case studies by V Antwi, R Best, K S Pacific and P Wagubi<br />CTA/FAO, 2015<br /><div>98 pages</div><div><br />Available and downloadable from <a href="http://publications.cta.int/en/publications/publication/1794">CTA publications website</a>.<br /><br /><b>19 February 2015.</b> Press release - Wageningen. <a href="http://cta.int/en/article/2015-02-19/smallholders-and-value-chains-a-winning-formula-new-publication.html">Smallholders and value chains: a winning formula.</a></div><div>Value chains are crucial to transforming agriculture in developing states. As value chains become more inclusive, small-scale farmers can gain access to previously inaccessible markets, receive important information to improve cultivation techniques or benefit from new sources of financing. The Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) teamed up to investigate 18 value chains in 11 African, Caribbean and Pacific countries. The aim was to identify and describe practices and structures best suited to ensure commercial and environmental sustainability and the inclusion of smallholder farmers.<br /><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>The value chains featured in the book were all set up through private sector initiatives. They revolve around the output of a single crop or livestock product in a single country and, in most cases, involve exporting at least part of the output.</li><li>Some case studies examine recent developments in long-established value chains, such as cocoa in Cameroon, pineapples in Ghana, sugar in Uganda, tea in Kenya, citrus in Belize and mangoes in Haiti. Others focus on enterprises that were established relatively recently to compete with imports or with existing enterprises. These include eggs in Jamaica, milk in Kenya and cocoa in Grenada. In the Pacific, new value chains are described for taro and papaya, which were set up to take advantage of unexpected markets.</li></ul>Contract farming arrangements with smallholders is a formula that receives detailed scrutiny, including the case of rubber producers in Liberia, maize farmers in Ghana and hot pepper growers in Jamaica. Also examined is how linking producers to services such as quarantine treatment can help them to export products and how partnerships, for example with NGOs, can help isolated producers to overcome production and processing hurdles and tap new markets.<br /><br />The studies reveal that the integration of farmers into value chains can have mutually beneficial outcomes for the farmers themselves and for other value chain participants, making a strong case for linkages between input suppliers, producers and players involved in processing and marketing.</div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a class="a2a_dd" href="http://www.addtoany.com/share_save"><img alt="Share" border="0" height="16" src="http://static.addtoany.com/buttons/share_save_171_16.png" width="171" /></a> <script src="http://static.addtoany.com/menu/page.js" type="text/javascript">
</script></div>François Stepmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09437969068162640227noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8143635796713746684.post-75169921529926480502015-02-20T06:22:00.001-08:002015-02-20T09:03:12.042-08:00Data: the next revolution for agriculture in ACP countries?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B-Ch8CjIIAEsOyi.jpg:large" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="156" src="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B-Ch8CjIIAEsOyi.jpg:large" width="200" /></a></div><b>18th February 2015.</b>&nbsp;Brussels. ACP Secretariat. CTA Brussels Development Briefing on the subject of “<a href="http://brusselsbriefings.net/next-briefing/40-data-the-next-revolution-for-agriculture-in-acp-countries/">Data: the next revolution for agriculture in ACP countries?</a>”.<br /><div><br /></div>The audience of 155 participants included ACP-EU policy makers, regional organizations, representatives of EU Member States, European Commission services, Members of the European Parliament, private sector, civil society groups, European research and development practitioners and international organizations.<br /><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><a href="https://brusselsbriefings.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/note.pdf">Background Note and Programme&nbsp;</a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://brusselsbriefings.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/note.pdf"></a><a href="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B-I4RWiIcAEAzQ7.jpg:large" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B-I4RWiIcAEAzQ7.jpg:large" width="320" /></a></div></li><li><a href="https://brusselsbriefings.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/reader-bb40-data-revolution-eng_v2-low-res-proof2-2.pdf">Reader</a></li><li><a href="https://brusselsbriefings.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/bb40_biodata_en.pdf">Biodata of speakers</a></li><li><a href="https://brusselsbriefings.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/bb40_reader-resources-en-and-fr.pdf">Resources</a> and&nbsp;<a href="https://brusselsbriefings.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/bb40_reader-glossary-en.pdf">Glossary</a></li><li><a href="http://ictupdate.cta.int/">ICT Update</a>: <a href="http://ictupdate.cta.int/content/download/35690/279824/file/ICT_Update_Issue_79_ENGLISH_6FEB1_lowres+%281%29.pdf">Data Revolution for Agriculture</a></li></ul>The explosion of digital data offers new technological opportunities for enhancing agricultural development; it has also become a key asset for all economies in the world. By looking at significant trends, approaches and experiences in using open data for food and nutrition security, this Briefing shall shed light on the impacts of the global data revolution for agriculture.<br /><br />The increasing volume of real-time data represents both a challenge and an opportunity for developing countries, and in particular, Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific (ACP). Harnessing the opportunities offered by this new digital landscape of open data systems shall be crucial: to meet acute data gaps throughout the value chain; to collect reliable data and statistics; to accurately plan and influence policies and interventions; to benefit from private-public partnerships, especially in the food industry; to inform global development efforts, donor decisions, and policy.<br /><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/HSQdLpXoYLA" width="560"></iframe></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/Resources/titles/80140100939320/Images/80140100939320M.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/Resources/titles/80140100939320/Images/80140100939320M.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="color: red;">Related:</span></b></div><a href="http://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/?GCOI=80140100939320">Poor Numbers</a> is the first analysis of the production and use of African economic development statistics. Morten Jerven's research shows how the statistical capacities of sub-Saharan African economies hav</div><div>e fallen into disarray. The numbers substantially misstate the actual state of affairs. As a result,&nbsp;</div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>scarce resources are misapplied.&nbsp;</li><li>Development policy does not deliver the benefits expected.&nbsp;</li><li>Policymakers' attempts to improve the lot of the citizenry are frustrated.&nbsp;</li><li>Donors have no accurate sense of the impact of the aid they supply.&nbsp;</li></ul>Jerven's findings from sub-Saharan Africa have far-reaching implications for aid and development policy. As Jerven notes, the current catchphrase in the development community is "evidence-based policy," and scholars are applying increasingly sophisticated econometric methods—but no statistical techniques can substitute for partial and unreliable data.<br /><br /><b><span style="color: red;">Related:</span></b><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VglJWQcuGQs/VOdniKkI6PI/AAAAAAAAEAc/zgTY8PCmDd4/s1600/DATA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VglJWQcuGQs/VOdniKkI6PI/AAAAAAAAEAc/zgTY8PCmDd4/s1600/DATA.jpg" height="320" width="216" /></a></div><a href="http://www.cta.int/images/Opendataforsmallholders-report_.pdf">Open Data and Smallholder Food and Nutritional Security</a>.<br />Andre Jellema, Wouter Meijninger and Chris Addison.<br />Alterra.CTA. 2015<br /><br />CTA shared the findings from a report commissioned from Alterra on open data benefits for smallholder farmers where the authors identified the main potential areas for open data use:&nbsp;<a href="http://cta.int/en/article/2015-01-15/creating-impact-with-open-data-in-agriculture-and-nutrition.html">Making agriculturally-relevant data accessible to users around the world</a>. The report aimed to answer the following questions: what is the actual impact of the open data movement on the food and nutrition security of smallholders in the developing world? What opportunities does it present, and which remain unfulfilled?<br /><b><span style="color: red;"><br /></span></b><b><span style="color: red;">Related:</span></b></div></div><b>Published on 25 Oct 2014</b>The 2014 World Food Prize Borlaug Dialogue Dr. David Muth moderated a panel on Precision Agriculture and Big Data, with Dr. Claudia Garcia, Dr. David Gebhardt, John May and Kerry J. Preete.</div><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5k400vL6Em0" width="560"></iframe></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a class="a2a_dd" href="http://www.addtoany.com/share_save"><img alt="Share" border="0" height="16" src="http://static.addtoany.com/buttons/share_save_171_16.png" width="171" /></a> <script src="http://static.addtoany.com/menu/page.js" type="text/javascript">
</script></div>François Stepmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09437969068162640227noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8143635796713746684.post-14332768132762047792015-02-20T06:06:00.000-08:002015-02-20T06:06:02.148-08:00European Agricultural Research Foresight exercise<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQzAEizX6HCPt8YyOmcLPCVRXBl0qUU1sRqPOdfBLwkWckjTeYy" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQzAEizX6HCPt8YyOmcLPCVRXBl0qUU1sRqPOdfBLwkWckjTeYy" /></a></div><b>18 February 2015.</b>&nbsp;Brussels. DG Research. Around 60 experts participated in the 3rd SCAR Foresight Workshop. (SCAR = Standing Committee on Agricultural Research).<br /><br />&nbsp;The 4th SCAR Foresight exercise, launched in spring 2014, explores the interactions between the primary sector and the bioeconomy. With an emphasis on the future, the exercise explores not only what will happen, but also what might happen by developing the paradigm of the bioeconomy, with the fundamental constraint of sustainability. Internal contradictions within sectors, and possible conflicts among sectors, are a major point of interest.<br /><br />The Foresight exercise aims to proceed in a participative way. For this purpose three interactive Brussels-based workshops were organised with experts, members of the SCAR and its working groups, the European Commission and various stakeholders of the bioeconomy. This third workshop analysed the implications of the various scenarios developed by the foresight expert group:<br /><br /><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>Scenario A: BIO-MODESTY. The Bio-Modesty future is characterized by a low growth in the demand for biomass for materials and energy.</li><li>Scenario B: BIO-SCARCITY. The Bio-Scarcity future is characterized by a high growth demand for biomass for materials and energy, but supply cannot follow demand.</li><li>Scenario C: BIO-BOOM. The Bio-Boom future entails high growth both of demand and supply. The same forces as in scenario B may lead to an increase in demand for biomass, but what differentiates this future is that supply follows demand.</li></ol><div><b><span style="color: red;">Related:</span></b></div><div><b>19 February 2015.</b>&nbsp;Brussels. DG Research.&nbsp;Joint EIARD-SCAR Strategic Working Group.</div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Contribution to Expert Group of High Level policy Dialogue EU-AU</li><li>AR – ARD in the <a href="http://www.cgiar.org/srfconsultation/srf-consultation-phase-2/%20and%20http://www.cgiar.org/consortium-news/effective-strategy-cgiar-next-10-years/">CGIAR Strategy and Results Framework</a> In their draft revised framework, CGIAR addresses (a.o.) research for global issues and successful partnerships. This corresponds to ARCH topics in the intersect of AR and ARD. Principles and practices (what and how) of connecting AR and ARD: common agendas, shared measuring activities, mutually reinforcing activities</li></ul><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.barillacfn.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/doppia_piramide-284x175.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://www.barillacfn.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/doppia_piramide-284x175.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;"><a href="http://www.barillacfn.com/en/bcfn4you/la-doppia-piramide/">The Double Pyramid</a> is the model created by BCFN&nbsp;</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">to describe the close relationship existing between&nbsp;</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">diet and environment: verify the accuracy of your&nbsp;</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">dietary habits and calculate their environmental&nbsp;</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">impact with the interactive test.</span></div></td></tr></tbody></table><div><div><b><span style="color: red;">Related:</span></b></div><br /><b>28 January 2015.</b>&nbsp;Brussels. The Barilla Center for Food &amp; Nutrition Foundation (BCFN) presented its new policy&nbsp;paper on <a href="http://www.barillacfn.com/en/news/barilla-center-for-food-nutrition-urges-european-parliament-to-promote-more-sustainable-food-system/">Sustainable Diets before the European Parliament</a>. The BCFN paper is the latest in a series of stakeholder efforts calling on the EU institutions to build a more sustainable food system across Europe and globally.<br /><br />MEP Giovanni La Via, Chair of the Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI), and MEP Paolo De Castro, S&amp;D Coordinator in the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development (AGRI) co-hosted the event “Good for You, Good for the Environment”.<br /><br />Barbara Buchner, Director of the Climate Policy Initiative and Member of the BCFN Advisory Board, said,&nbsp;<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSCBfGm0yxgU1GNEouuEX7CyNqUbDCaXaOUJwy-AEEF09xd8bEqvfy76A" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSCBfGm0yxgU1GNEouuEX7CyNqUbDCaXaOUJwy-AEEF09xd8bEqvfy76A" /></a></div></div><blockquote class="tr_bq"><i>“We hope that our research can encourage policymakers to include environmental considerations when developing dietary guidelines. Our model shows that foods that should be consumed more frequently for health also have a lower environmental impact.”</i></blockquote></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a class="a2a_dd" href="http://www.addtoany.com/share_save"><img alt="Share" border="0" height="16" src="http://static.addtoany.com/buttons/share_save_171_16.png" width="171" /></a> <script src="http://static.addtoany.com/menu/page.js" type="text/javascript">
</script></div>François Stepmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09437969068162640227noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8143635796713746684.post-56723456106144661032015-02-20T03:59:00.003-08:002015-02-20T03:59:37.361-08:00Connecting farmers to markets: The P4P story<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div><a href="https://www.wfp.org/sites/default/files/imagecache/150xScale/the%20P4P%20story%20-%20cover%20print%20screen,%20Feb%202015.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://www.wfp.org/sites/default/files/imagecache/150xScale/the%20P4P%20story%20-%20cover%20print%20screen,%20Feb%202015.PNG" /></a></div><a href="http://wfp.us9.list-manage.com/track/click?u=dfac154cfa3bdd3a5fe512208&amp;id=970980b1fa&amp;e=3fe9fd8a38">Connecting farmers to markets: The P4P story</a>. This short book&nbsp;provides an overview of the achievements made, challenges faced and lessons learned.<br /><div><br /></div><div>It highlights the experience of farmers, governments and other partners in the 20 pilot countries. Through their stories, this short book gives voice to many people directly involved in the P4P partnership.<br /><br />A paper details the wide array of opportunities generated by the P4P approach, along with the correspondingly deep set of challenges addressed: <a href="http://wfp.us9.list-manage.com/track/click?u=dfac154cfa3bdd3a5fe512208&amp;id=32a058ab13&amp;e=3fe9fd8a38">Purchase for Progress: Reflections on the pilot,</a></div><div><br /></div><a href="http://www.wfp.org/purchase-Progress">The Purchase for Progress (P4P) pilot</a> has allowed WFP to try out new ways of leveraging its purchasing power to support agricultural and market development in developing countries. Over the past five years, the pilot has transformed the lives of hundreds of thousands of farmers, especially women, in 20 developing countries, supporting them to grow more, sell more, and earn more and become more competitive players in their local markets.<br /><br />P4P links WFP’s demand for staple food commodities (cereals, pulses and blended foods) with the technical expertise of a wide range of partners to support smallholder farmers boost their agricultural production and sell their surplus at a fair price. By providing a market to smallholder farmers and supporting them to improve crop quality and increase their sales to WFP as well as other buyers, the initiative has transformed WFP’s local procurement into a vital tool to address hunger.<br /><br />Though the five-year P4P pilot period <b>concluded in December 2013</b>, efforts to support smallholders continue as WFP mainstreams key innovations and best practices.<br /><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" height="286" id="null" width="510"> <param value="true" name="allowfullscreen"/> <param value="always" name="allowscriptaccess"/> <param value="high" name="quality"/> <param value="true" name="cachebusting"/> <param value="#000000" name="bgcolor"/> <param name="movie" value="http://cdn.wfp.org/libraries/flowplayer3/flowplayer.commercial-3.2.5.swf?0.21773724001832306" /> <param 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</script></div>François Stepmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09437969068162640227noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8143635796713746684.post-63685705458308856412015-02-20T01:51:00.000-08:002015-02-20T01:51:00.451-08:00Research workshop: Agriculture and Climate Change<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://ec.europa.eu/programmes/horizon2020/sites/horizon2020/files/styles/h2020_list/public/newsroom/img_3221_web_8631_10.jpg?itok=xEq98mWe" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://ec.europa.eu/programmes/horizon2020/sites/horizon2020/files/styles/h2020_list/public/newsroom/img_3221_web_8631_10.jpg?itok=xEq98mWe" /></a></div><div><b>10 - 11 February 2015.</b> Brussels. The European Commission Directorate general for Agriculture and rural development, in collaboration with Directorates in charge of Research and innovation, Climate action and the Joint research Centre organised a research workshop on '<a href="http://ec.europa.eu/programmes/horizon2020/en/news/draw-me-climate-smart-farms">climate-smart agriculture</a>' on . The workshop assembled around 65 participants from the research community, stakeholders' organisations and international institutions and networks.</div><br />The objective was to identify research gaps and prioritise research needs regarding agriculture in relation to climate change. The opening session provided the audience with a variety of presentations (see infra). After that, participants worked in parallel sessions on:<br /><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Carbon cycle,</li><li>Nitrogen cycle and</li><li>Water and abiotic stresses.</li></ul>A full day of intensive discussions brought very useful inputs, including three descriptions of what a climate-smart farm would be from the point of view of carbon, nitrogen or water and abiotic stresses. These inputs will be compiled in a report and will serve the further programming of Horizon 2020.<br /><br />Presentations from the introductive plenary session are available below:<br /><br /><b>Setting the scene</b>: <br /><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><a href="http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/newsroom/cf/horizon2020/document.cfm?action=display&amp;doc_id=8757">Impacts of Agriculture on Climate Change </a>- F. Tubiello - IPCC WG III / FAO</li><li><a href="http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/newsroom/cf/horizon2020/document.cfm?action=display&amp;doc_id=8758">Impacts of Climate Change on Agriculture </a>- J.-F. Soussana - IPCC WG II / FACCE - INRA</li></ul><br />Overview on <b>past agriculture and climate change research activities</b>: <br /><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><a href="http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/newsroom/cf/horizon2020/document.cfm?action=display&amp;doc_id=8759">FP7 and H2020: societal challenge 2</a> - M. Burioni, DG RTD</li><li><a href="http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/newsroom/cf/horizon2020/document.cfm?action=display&amp;doc_id=8760">FP7 and H2020: societal challenge 5</a> - A. Kentarchos, DG RTD</li><li><a href="http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/newsroom/cf/horizon2020/document.cfm?action=display&amp;doc_id=8761">Joint Research Centre activities </a>- A. Leip, S. Niemeyer, JRC</li></ul><b>Policy needs</b>:<br /><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><a href="http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/newsroom/cf/horizon2020/document.cfm?action=display&amp;doc_id=8762">Climate Change and policy needs for research </a>- G. Tsouris, DG CLIMA</li></ul></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a class="a2a_dd" href="http://www.addtoany.com/share_save"><img alt="Share" border="0" height="16" src="http://static.addtoany.com/buttons/share_save_171_16.png" width="171" /></a> <script src="http://static.addtoany.com/menu/page.js" type="text/javascript">
</script></div>François Stepmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09437969068162640227noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8143635796713746684.post-25040534936393465842015-02-17T03:44:00.000-08:002015-02-17T04:02:52.000-08:00 Towards an Integrated Market for Seeds and Fertilizers in West Africa<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-X9PWY2DrOak/VOMs-4leQZI/AAAAAAAAEAE/f-5elkfvidA/s1600/Seed.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-X9PWY2DrOak/VOMs-4leQZI/AAAAAAAAEAE/f-5elkfvidA/s1600/Seed.jpg" height="320" width="242" /></a></div><a href="http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/WDSContentServer/WDSP/IB/2015/01/15/000470435_20150115132901/Rendered/PDF/936300REVISED00REVISED0FINAL0TO0DC.pdf">Towards an Integrated Market forSeeds and Fertilizers in West Africa</a><br />John C. Keysera , Marjatta Eilittäb , Georges Dimithec , Gbolagade Ayoolad , and Louis Sènee<br />January, 2015, <b>50 pages</b><br /><b><br /></b><b>10&nbsp;February&nbsp;2014</b>. Washington – A new World Bank Group (WBG) working paper,&nbsp;<a href="http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2015/01/23804243/towards-integrated-market-seeds-fertilizers-west-africa">Towards an Integrated Market for Seeds and Fertilizers in West Africa</a>, examines the region’s efforts to build integrated regional markets for seed and fertilizer. After extensive consultations, new regional regulations based on advanced international standards for seed and fertilizer have mostly been agreed upon and are already helping to guide quality improvements in some countries.<br /><br />For farmers in West Africa, the high price of fertilizer and seeds, their limited&nbsp;availability and their poor quality are major barriers to agricultural growth. To increase farmer choice, improve buyer confidence and otherwise make crop industry trade easier, faster and cheaper, West African governments have been working together through the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and other regional bodies for several years to develop harmonized trade rules and quality control procedures.<br /><br /><b><span style="color: red;">Background:</span></b><br />This working paper is the result of numerous consultations with seed, fertilizer, and regional trade experts in West Africa who generously gave their time for interviews, for sharing data, and for answering questions after the country visits. The work was undertaken as background to a larger World Bank volume on “Regional Food Staples Trade in West Africa” led by Jean-Christophe Maur and Ben Shepherd as part of an agreed joint work program with the ECOWAS and UEMOA Commissions.<br /><br />This work was funded by the UK Department for International Development under the Support to West Africa Regional Integration Program (SWARIP) window of the Multi-Donor Trust Fund for Trade and Development supported by the governments of the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom</div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a class="a2a_dd" href="http://www.addtoany.com/share_save"><img alt="Share" border="0" height="16" src="http://static.addtoany.com/buttons/share_save_171_16.png" width="171" /></a> <script src="http://static.addtoany.com/menu/page.js" type="text/javascript">
</script></div>François Stepmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09437969068162640227noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8143635796713746684.post-80950513632873290402015-02-17T03:30:00.001-08:002015-02-17T03:30:23.848-08:00The Rockefeller Foundation's Waste and Spoilage Initiative<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.rockefellerfoundation.org/uploads/images/e8c8c8b3-d125-4afe-9b65-da09a56f911c-pics-bag.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.rockefellerfoundation.org/uploads/images/e8c8c8b3-d125-4afe-9b65-da09a56f911c-pics-bag.PNG" height="216" width="400" /></a></div><div><b>13 February 2015.</b>&nbsp;<a href="http://www.rockefellerfoundation.org/blog/awareness-key-reducing-post-harvest">Awareness: A Key to Reducing Post-Harvest Loss in Africa</a>.&nbsp;The Rockefeller Foundation's <a href="http://www.rockefellerfoundation.org/our-work/current-work/food-security">Waste and Spoilage Initiative</a>&nbsp; is working to identify opportunities and test key solutions in the supply chain to reduce food loss.&nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><div>They have learned that food loss in developing countries adversely affects the livelihoods of smallholder farmers by decreasing saleable harvest, reducing their ability to manage changing market prices and their income.</div><div><br /></div>Besides this knowledge gap, other contributing factors to post-harvest loss are lack of market access, low adoption of technologies, improper drying, use of rudimentary threshing techniques, and lack of cooling systems after harvest and during transportation for goods like fruits and vegetables. These are some of the challenges that this initiative is trying to address.<br /><div><br /></div>Key critical factors to scaling up these innovations will be working with aggregated groups of farmers, and ensuring access to ready market for their produce, either through contract farming or direct sourcing. Processing and value addition are also key to reducing post-harvest loss, especially for fruits and vegetables. <br /><div><br /></div>In July 2014, the Waste and Spoilage Initiative team held a convening of private sector partners at <a href="http://www.rockefellerfoundation.org/bellagio-center">Bellagio Center</a>.<br /><div><br /></div><div>Various strategies and models are used to counter food loss. Kenya’s <a href="http://www.uchumicorporate.co.ke/">Uchumi Supermarket</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;currently processes overripe fruits from its own shelves before they 'go bad' and sells the juices to its customers. Additionally, it is working with other partners to promote tomato farming in greenhouses among its farmers to stagger tomato production and reduce excess supply from during peak season. This ensures that farmers get a fair price for delivered tomatoes throughout the year.</div><div><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><b><br /></b><b>Published on 11 Sep 2014</b>Smallholder farmers contribute 90% of food production in Sub-Saharan Africa, but 42% of fruits and vegetables produced by this farmers are lost because of post harvest loss. Post-harvest loss impacts different types of smallholder farmers in different ways.</div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a class="a2a_dd" href="http://www.addtoany.com/share_save"><img alt="Share" border="0" height="16" src="http://static.addtoany.com/buttons/share_save_171_16.png" width="171" /></a> <script src="http://static.addtoany.com/menu/page.js" type="text/javascript">
</script></div>François Stepmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09437969068162640227noreply@blogger.com0